Resilient flywheel



APPLICATION FILED MAR. 29, 1919.

A. E. SCHEIN.

RESILIENT FLYWHEEL.

Patented June 6, 1922.

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s A JNVENTOR ALEXANDER A. E. SCHEIN.

RESILIENT FLYWHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 29. I9I9.

Patel'itedJune 6, 1922.

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ALEXANDER E. SCHEIN. F BRGOELYN, NEW-YORK, ASSIGNOR TG Tm SPEIRRY SCOPE CUMPANY, 0F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, A COQRATION 0F NEW YORK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented .faire e, ieee.

Application filed March 29, -1919. Serial No. 286,116.

'of New York` have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Resilient Flywheels, of which the following is a specification.

This mvention relatesv to gyroscopes of 4large size such as used for stabilizing ships.

The object of the invention is to improve upon the construction of the rotors of such gyroscopes whereby they may be built up in sections and at the same time possess a high `factor of safety and in 'which only readily calculatable stresses due to centrifugal lforce arise.

Another object of the invention is the improvement of the oiling system for such rotors, especially where roller bearings are employed on vertical shafts. It will be understoodthat various features of the invention have much broader application than to the gyroscopes and are applicable to heavy rotating machinery and fly wheels of all kinds.

Referring to the. drawings in which what are now considered the preferred forms of my invention are shown:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of a gyroscope constructed according to my invention.

Fig. 2 is a detail sectional view of the lower bearing of the rotor thereof.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a portion of the rotor.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation from the opposite side showing a slightly modified form of rotor.

Fig. 5 is a cross section taken approximately on line 5 5, Fig. L1.

Fig. 6 is a cross section of a modified construction of rim of the rotor.

Fig. 7 is a cross section of a modified form of fiy wheel in which the resilient members connected to the central hub with the rim extend axially rather than radially.

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of a portionof a fly wheel showing a fourth construction of such resilient member.

Fig. 9 is a cross section taken on line 9-9 of Fig. 8.

',The gyroscope 1 is shown as supported for oscillation about the horizontal axis by means of hollow trunnions 2 and 3 j ournalled 1n bearings 4 and 5 supported in heavy brackets 6 and 7. Said trunnions are carried bythe rotor bearing casing 8, being preferably an integral part of the central annular member 9 of the casing. Bolted or otherwise secured to said member along the flanges 10 thereof are two conical end pieces 11 and 12 in' which the upper and lower bearings 13 and 14 respectively are mounted. Said bearings are in this instance shown as roller bearings having rollers 15 held within a cage 16 and placed between the stationary bearing block 17 and the sleeve 18 on the I shaft 19 of the rotor. Said sleeve 18 may C be held on the shaft by being forced on the tapered end 20 thereof and locked in place by lock nut 21. In order to support the vertical shaft of 'the heavy rotor 22 I prefer to place the thrust bearing 23 adjacent the upper end ofthe shaft so that the shaft and rotor are suspended therefrom. Said bearing is also of the roller type comprising upper rotatable collar 24 secured to a shaft 19 and rollers 25 in the lower fixed bearing plate 26.

In case the upper bearing 'should fail I prefer to provide an auxiliary thrust bearing adjacent the lower end bearing 27 and the lower end of the shaft. The surfaces of said bearing are normally out of engagement, as shown in Fig. 2, and comprise a rotatable block 28 keyed or otherwise secured so as to rotate with the shaft as indicated at 29 and a lower iixed block 3U.

For causing a circulation of oil through the bearing a pump `preferably driven by the gyroscope itself is provided.v Said pump is shown in thel form of a double gear pump driven by means of a shaft 31 having slidablefthe gear pump. Said pinion meshes with a gear 36 journalled on a sleeve 37 surrounding` a. shaft 31, said gear in turn meshing with a second pinion 35 similar to pinion 35. Oil from the reservoir 38 below the lower bearing flows into both of the. pinions 35 and 35 106 through central channels 39 from where it is pumped by the pinions and gears- 36 throu h pipes 40 and 40 to a topchamber 41 on te roscope. From there the oil descends by gravity first through thrust bearing 23, then 1'10 through s/mall passageway 42 into and through the radial rotor bearing 13 thence into chamber 43 thereunder from where itis led by pipe 44 into a chamber 45 above the lower radial bearing. The oil then flows through small openin 46 in a hood or cover plate 47 and into an through `said bearing. Such a plate 47 may also be provided for the upper bearin 13.

In previous ro ler bearings of this type it has been found that although the bearings be supplied with plenty of oil it would, when the rotor was revolving at high speed, run 'dry without apparent reason. After an exhaustive investigation I found that the reason for this action was that the roller bearings revolving at high speed would throw off the oil faster than it could be supity.

plied, in fact the rotating cage of the bearings seemed to act as a pump, the hydraulic head attained due to the velocity of the particles being greater than that due to grav- L have discovered, however, that by providing a hood or plate 47 which Hts fairly .closely above the top of the bearing that the aforesaid centrifugal action of the bearing on the oil is made use of to build up a. pressure in the chamber 48 between the bearing and the plate so that the oil is fed down through the bearing with a positive action. Preferably the said plate 47 is provided with radial ribs 49 at intervals to lessen the churning of the oil.

From the roller bearing the oil passes down into the aforesaid chamber 38. In said chamber is preferably provided a plurality of radially extending'bafe plates 50 to lessen the churning. The plates 50 extend between and are secured to a central conical thimble 51 surrounding the lower end of the shaft 19 and annular members 52 and 53. Preferably a wire mesh 55 or other straining device is placed under said chamber and underneath the bearing to prevent 'solid particles from entering the pumps. Thimble 51 serves to -revent the oil from coming in contact with the rotating parts near the lower end of the bearing and thus secure rotational velocity therefrom. Oil is led into the auxiliary thrust bearing 27 through channels 56 and 57 and chamber 58. Said chamber also serves to oil the bearing of the shaft 31. r

The rotor is preferably electrically driven as by means of a motor 60, the rotor 61 of which is secured to the shaft 19 while the stationary part 62 is mounted on av fra-me 63 bolted or otherwise secured to the interior of the casing 8.

The construction of gyroscopic rotors of the size necessary for stabilizing ships, the diameter of which generallyl exceeds six feet, is extremely diflicult onaccount of the enormous vweight of the rotor making it difficult to produce a solid casting to handle strains not ordinarily occurring in the ordinary fly wheels. Such strains are due to gyroscopic reaction produced by continuous changing of the plane of rotation. According to the preferred construction the hub portion proper 64 of the rotor is. connected to the rim portion 65 by yielding, resilient spokes 66. Saidspokes are preferably so shaped not only to giveA the maximum resiliency in a radial direction but be comparatively stiff axially or transversely of the Wheel. The spokes are, therefore, preferably substantially as broad as the rim, see

Fig. 1, but are comparatively thin as viewed f from the front and of 'a curved or bellying shape. This curve may be either compound or may begin at some .distance above the base 67 of the spokes as indicated in Fig. 3 or it may be a uniform curve of greater radius and extending throughout the length of the spoke as indicated in Fig. 4 at 66. In Fig. 3 also, the point of connection between the spoke and rim is radially opposite the point of connection of the spoke to the hub so that when the rim expands only radial movement results.

The rim proper is preferably made up of a pluralit of annular sections 68, 69, 70, 69', and 68. referably the sections are shaped with interlocking shoulders 71 and 72 so that the outer sections which are locked to the spokes support firmly the inner sections. As a means for locking the rim to the spokes `the section 68 may be secured by double dove-tail key 73 to each spoke as indicated in Figs. 1 and 3. The upper portion of the key ts within a corresponding groove in rim 68 and the lower portion in a corresponding groove in the top 74 of the spoke. Onthe opposite side the spokes may be provided with upstanding shoulders 75 so that the composite rim is clamped between said'shoulders and keys 73. The central portion of the spokes may be cut out to increase the resiliency as indicated at 76. Instead of being made up of a few comparatively thick annular rings such as shown inFig. 1 the rim may be composed of a larger number of laminations or annuli, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. According to Athis modification a plurality of comparaof a dove-tail key one of the inner rings 88 may be so secured as by means of key 73 while a detachable clamping member 89 may be employed to clamp the outer ring ,.87 against the opposite fixed shoulder 7 5'.

In Fig. 6 a composite rim is shown made up of a plurality of plain faced rings 90 having varying radial thickness, however,V to engage the steps 82', 83', 84', and 85' in the spokes 66". If desired c over plates 91, 92 may be provided' to enclose the spokes to lessen their windage resistance.

In Fig. 7 another type of resilient connecting member is shown comprising a plurality of spokes 166 having laterally weakened or cut away portions 92 thereby proyviding substantially' axially extending arms 93 which are yieldable radially. In addition the body portions 166 of the spokes are preferably curved or dished in the same manner as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 in order to increase the length of the yielding portion. The curvature 0f the spokes 166 is indicated by the heavy shading corresponding to the shading in Figs. 5 and 6 which illustrate a sectional View of Fig. 4. The said arms are alternately cut out on opposite sides, as indicated at 92 and 92' in Fig. 7, by adjacent spokes 166 and 166' with. cut out portions -92 and 92' forming oppositely extending arms 93 and 93'. may be provided with an upwardly extending shoulder 94: engaging a recess in the outer member 68' of the rim. At the attached end of the arm a detachable clamping plate 95 may be employed held in place by a set screw 96.

Still another modified form of resilient spokes is shown in Fig. 8. According to this form each spoke 97 extends substantially7 radially outwardly from the hub 67 to a point immediately adjacent the rim 65 to form a web portion. Immediately under the rim each spoke is bent over to form a circumferentially extending resilient arm 98 having bearing surfaces for the rim adjacent its inner end at' 103 and adjacent its outer end at 102. Said arm is attached to the rim 65 adjacent its outer end yonly by suitable means such as bolts 99 which are threaded in dove-tail blocks 100 slidable in dove-tail grooves 101 in the under surface of the rim. Clamping shoulders 75, 75" and 95 may also be provided if desired.

From the foregoing the operation of my invention will be readily apparent. On starting up the gyroscope the oil will be pumped by means of the gear pumps 35 and 35' into the top of the gyroscope from whence it will flow down through the thrust bearing and radial bearings as described. The faster the bearings revolve the better will be the oil feed produced by the hood or plate 47 since, as explained. pressure will Ibe built up between the plate and bearing Each spoke.

which assists in forcin the-oil therethrough against the centrifuga force of the bearing. In case the upper bearing should break, the weight of the gyro rotor would b'e supported by the lower bearing 27so that no damage could result to the gyrosco e. The resi ient rotor will respond per ectly to all speeds without pulling loose from the shaft since any expansion of the rim will be taken up by the resilient spokes without being transmitted to the hub in any substantial amount. If desired the rim may be placed upon the spokes so that the spokes are held normally under pressure to lessen the pulling action upon the hub. My invention also possesses the advantage that the rim, which comprises by far the greatest portion of the weight of the rotor, need not be perfectly balanced since it will rotate, after passin its critical speed, about its true center o inertia after the manner of fly wheels with flexible shafts.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A 4fiy wheel comprising a rim portion, a hub portion, and radially yielding but axially relatively stiff spokes connecting said portions.

2. A fiy wheel comprising a rim portion composed of a pluralityof annular sections, al hub portion, and radially yielding but axia lly relatively stiff spokes connecting said portions. l

3. A fiy wheel comprising a rim portion composed of a plurality of annular sections clamped together, a hub portion, and radially yielding but axially relatively stiff spokes connecting said portions.

4. A fly wheel comprising a rim portion, a hub portion, and curved resilient spokes connecting said portions.

5. A fly wheel comprising a rim portion, a hub ortion, and curved resilient spokes connecting said portions, the points of connection between the rim and spokes being substantially radially in line with the respective points of connection between the spokes and hub.

6. A fly wheel comprising a hub portion, a separate rim, and a circumferentially extending member connected adjacent one end to said'hub and adjacent the other end to said rim, said member serving as a radially yieldable coupling between said hub and rim. i

7. In a ily wheel, a hub, a plurality of spokes thereon, a rim comprising a plurality of annular members-mounted on said spokes, means interlocking said members, and means locking at least one of said members to said spokes to prevent radial separation.

8. In a fly wheel, a hub, a plurality of spokes thereon, a rim comprising a plurality of annular members mounted on said spokes,

means interlocking said members, and means locking at least one of said members to said spokes to prevent radial and lateral relative movement of said rim and spokes.

9. A' flywheel comprising a rim, a hub portion, and a spoke portion comprising a plurality of resilient members curved both circumferentially and axially.

10. A iywheel comprising a rim portion,

a-hub portion,I and a plurality of radially 1o yieldable spokes connecting said portions, each of said spokes being curved circumferentially and curved in alternate directions axially.

In testimony whereof I have aiiixed my 15 signature.

ALEXANDER E. SCHEIN. 

